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Morton takes win in opening round of Ski X at Castleford, Taylor wins female event.

British Ski Cross Series Round 1: SNO!zone, Castleford

25th May 2008 saw the opening round of the British Ski Cross Series kick off at SNO!zone, Castleford, as 60 skiers hit the slopes to try their hand in the first ever British Series of events.

With very few Ski Cross events run for British athletes across the UK, the British Series had attracted a great amount of attention from skiers of all levels from both racing and freestyle backgrounds, and as competitors arrived at the venue on the Saturday evening it was clear that this would be something new for everyone.

The Saturday evening saw the course opened for the first time at 7pm giving competitors the chance to practice for 2 hours before heading up to the Alibi Pretox Riders Lounge to chill out and party with their mates. The vibe around the bar area following the first 2 hour session was that the course was bigger and tougher than anything anyone had seen built in a snow dome before, a tribute to the hard work of Aidan Harrington and his course team. 11pm saw the end of the second warm up session to allow staff to make course repairs and give riders the chance to socialize and knock back the cans of Alibi that were provided for competitors and spectators alike. As the DJs played and the Alibi flowed, the talk in the riders Lounge turned to who the favourite for the following days competition was and which parts of the course were likely to cause the problems.

Sunday morning arrived and come 9 o’clock competitors started to trickle in to collect their bibs and warm up. The start of the events were schedule to begin at 11am to give those arriving on the day the chance to try the course, and those who had partied the night before the chance relax and start a little later.

As the time trials kicked off it became clear that while those competitors with a race pedigree would present a strong challenge, they wouldn’t have it all their own way. Double British Dryslope Champion Andy Roose was forced out with an injury after falling hard in the notorious camel bumps and British Freestyle Team member Martin Nankoo led the field. As more and more skiers stepped up and lay down their qualifying runs, which were to be used to determine start orders in the Knock Out rounds, Ashley Hill came to the front of the pack with an attacking run. His time stayed at the top of the leader board for almost a full hour until just 5 minutes before the end of qualifying when Sheffield based skier James Kane blew the field away with the fastest time of the day by over half a second.

Competitors retired back to the Alibi Riders Lounge for their break whilst the results from the Qualifying section were announced and the draws for the Knock Out Rounds were made. While the athletes took a well earned break they were able to chat with staff from Natives, Atomic and Snowsport GB who were stationed around the Riders Lounge to offer advice and comment on the competition.

As the afternoon Knock Out rounds began the results stayed true to the formbook, with number one seeds Harriet Steggles, Max Baggio and Ashley Hill all progressing to the finals in their respective groups. The senior field saw the first upset of the day as top seed and event favourite James Kane collided with Max Hardy over the final jump and Hardy recovered quickest to progress to the final alongside 2nd seed Kenny Morton, Loughborough Universities Phil Harris and Martin Nankoo.

The women's Final was first up and hard fought from the starting gates as female favourite Harriet Steggles was squashed out on the first corner and lost a ski in the subsequent crash. From there the race was always going to belong to 15-year old Jasmine Taylor, who cruised down to take first place, ahead of Alex Houston and Gracie Lake, and book her place in the Super Final.

The Youth Males Final saw the expected result but in a round about way. Pre race Youth top seed Max Baggio took the victory after making contact with the other three youngsters in corner 2, an incident that resulted in all the other competitors loosing a ski. While Sam Houston finished off the podium, Max Moss pushed Luke Riddell into 3rd place after passing him on one foot over the final jump into the finish.

With the spectators still on tender hooks following the thrills and spills of the first two finals, the Junior Males brought yet more surprises as Ashley Hill, Marek Benkhe and Jon Sutcliffe crashed allowing the composed Jacob Lawless to pick his way through the carnage to take the win. Benkhe and Sutcliffe followed him down in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

As the competitors in the Senior Male Final left the start gate it looked as though the underdogs would triumph again – top seeds James Kane and Jake Richardson had already been knocked out, and the one remaining seed Kenny Morton was out muscled by Martin Nankoo into the camel bumps as the fought to avoid a huge crash by Phil Harris. As Morton and Nankoo headed towards the finish line Nankoo celebrated his victory with a stylish trick over the final jump only to see Morton dive under his skis and cross the finish line first. As Max Hardy took the final step on the podium Morton headed back up to the start for the Super Final, which would decide the winners of the days cash prizes.

With the four section finalists lined up, Taylor, Baggio, Lawless and Morton, spectators flooded to the bottom of the slope to watch the Super Final to a thumping track selected by event Guest DJ Ivy Taylor. As they exploded out of the start, all eager to get their hands on the cash, Morton’s experience under pressure on the British Team paid off, leading Baggio and Taylor into the 2nd corner. As they exited the bend, female winner Jasmine Taylor tried an audacious overtake, only to end up inverted, crashing through the safety netting and onto the piste below. While she was unhurt, it did spell the end for the Super Final for her, and meant Kenny Morton picked up the first Title of the British Ski Cross series, with Max Baggio and Jacob Lawless also finishing amongst the points.

With the competitions over and all involved delighted with the success, prize giving began in the Alibi Riders Lounge, with the winners displayed on the big screens and Atomic’s Emily Sarsfield – Britain’s World Cup Ski Cross Star – handing out prizes, cash and most importantly the exclusive Hype Events trophy to the victors of Round One.

British Ski Cross Series Round 1 Results:

Female:

1st – Jasmine Taylor #26

2nd – Alex Houston #70

3rd – Gracie Lake #94

Youth Males:

1st – Max Baggio #67

2nd – Max Moss #66

3rd – Luke Riddell #84

Junior Males:

1st – Jacob Lawless #113

2nd – Marek Benkhe #83

3rd – Jon Sutcliffe #110

Senior Males:

1st – Kenny Morton #78

2nd – Martin Nankoo #23

3rd – Max Hardy #101